Please forgive my average animation skills, I am still learning :) F.A.Q Section Q: Do you take aircraft requests? A: I have a list of aircraft I plan to cover, but feel free to add to it with suggestions:) Q: Why do you use imperial measurements for some videos, and metric for others? A: I do this based on country of manufacture. Imperial measurements for Britain and the U.S, metric for the rest of the world, but I include text in my videos that convert it for both. Q: Will you include video footage in your videos, or just photos? A: Video footage is very expensive to licence, if I can find footage in the public domain I will try to use it, but a lot of it is hoarded by licencing studies (British Pathe, Periscope films etc). In the future I may be able to afford clips :) Q: Why do you sometimes feature images/screenshots from flight simulators? A: Sometimes there are not a lot of photos available for certain aircraft, so I substitute this with digital images that are as accurate as possible.

Burt Rutans design of the Quickie is among the more modern tandem winged planes that I know of. Fun to learn of even earlier design prototypes.

Neat, I've never even heard of these prototypes and that's exactly the sort of thing I appreciate about yours and similar channels. Bringing attention to something obscure and interesting.

Hi dude - great to see my planes being used in your video - you did them proud. Looking forward to future projects....Mark

I'm so glad you did this because the only channels that had info on these kinds of aircraft before now were those A.I. generated 'dark' aviation channels with their many strange bits of misinformation.

These appear as if they could have been the inspiration for some of the aircraft designs that Gerry Anderson et al came up with for "Thunderbirds"

I've always liked these designs, a great example of unconventional but perfectly logical thinking. I'll definitely be looking forward to the longer video, I bet I'll learn a lot from it.

Around 1980 I happened to have a chat with a gentleman, who was building an RC-model of the M.39, and had phoned George Miles about details, including C.G. The C.G. had Miles said, and after a lengthy pause, the C.G, no, I have no idea where the C.G. was, or where it should have been. But he was very helpful with other details.

Tandem wings are real cool

You just need to look at Burt Rutan's aircraft to see that Miles were onto something.

"Preference for Litho-braking..." 😂🤣 That was pretty good.

Thank you Rex for talking about one of my favourite weird aircraft of the war! I never knew there were further versions of the Libellula from the M39 onwards so I'm very much looking forward to that video. :)

Thank you for this video. And how about making one for the Miles Messenger? Produced to meet an Army requirement for an air observation post. Then the MAP threw all their toys out of the pram because Miles hadn't gone through them. So the Army weren't allowed to have it! However the type was used later by the RAF who bought 21. A total of 93 were produced 1942-48, including exports to 9 countries. It had huge rear-wing flaps which gave it the very low stall speed of 25mph! (cf Fieseler Storch stalling speed 31mph.) The engine was a Gypsy Major. Lord Tedder and Monty each had one.

As I am a WW2 aircrafts enthusiast, I love how often you could bring up some planes out of the forgotten dust. Really cheers mate, your work is absolutely awesome. Hope you can continue as is. Best wishes and happy Christmas. Mike.

I suspect the M35 was the inspiration for the main aircraft in the Crimson Skies video game. What I am very curious about, though, is how this design would fare if you slapped a jet engine on it.

I imagine Burt Rutan took inspiration from these designs, and took it to a whole new level. Happy holidays to all!

Can't help but watch this and think of three things: 1. Rutan 2. COIN 3. Drone tech Just goes to show how rare truly original ideas are

Nice to see Miles getting love. Reading is the town of my birth so I've allways known about them but it seems not meny people do, tho that would be very different if our government had let the M 52 fly instead of selling out to the Americans 🤬 P.s. Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄

... oh I love these. Weird aircraft like this are just so much fun to explore!

Litho-braking superb word, made my day and will be used at every available opportunity on flight failures, thank you!

It behaved exceptionally well. except for the part between taxiing to take off and being back on the ground. But I really enjoyed the looks of the B variant. Nice one. Can't wait for your deep dive video. Especially to learn about the thing that looks like the Lancs weird cousin :D

Would have worked well with early jet engines. Two at the back of the fuselage side by side. Short inlet and exhaust helping to reduce thrust losses. Also an engine out would not have effected asymmetric thrust.

Thanks. I’ve been waiting over twenty years for a decent video of these two aircraft.👍

I was brought up on many immediately-post-war photographic books and the Libellula was described in one of them. I have always admired the Miles team and became deeply interested in their innovations culminating in the harsh dealings by officialdom of their M 52 supersonic jet (to be piloted by Capt. Brown). I remember the 1947 adverts for the Miles pen company (the biro) into which The company had rapidly morphed. (Officialdom also 'took down' Frank Whittle's Power Jets company, desiring their own National Gas Turbine stablishment).

"If at first you don't succeed, try again. Then quit. No sense making a damned fool of yourself." W.C. Fields

Miles flew from Woodley Aerodrome not actuallyReading , just outside. Originally Miles did have a design office in Reading, in Donnington Road. The Miles factory building is still in Woodley but is now an automotive factory. Please see the great book Wings Over Woodley for the full history of the Miles Aircraft Company.

Thank you for pointing out the name 'Libellula' was taken from a dragonfly - otherwise I'd have spent the rest of my life thinking someone had named an aircraft after a part of a lady's anatomy!

Man, I wish these aircraft’s received more attention

Miles aircraft also worked on Britain's attempt to break the sound barrier. That would be an excellent subject for a video.

This is the sort of thing that makes me wish there was something as easy to use as Sprocket that could generate aircraft to fly in X-Plane.

One can only imagine what a Blackburn tandem wing would look like…

Kelly Johnson's 1939 L133 supersonic fighter design had a similar design with a much smaller canard replacing the front wing. As a design it was well ahead of it's time but I doubt that there was a powerplant with enough thrust to exceed Mach I until the early 1950s.

As the Aussies say it was a 4 wing banger that hopped like a Joey

And, it's notable that several modern jet fighters have effectively revised the concept. The Saab Viggen was an early example, followed by the Saab Gripen. Likewise, the Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter Typhoon have adopted, in effect, the same aerodynamic layout. I suspect aviation enthusiasts could provide a substantial list of such aircraft, apart from the four I've mentioned. :)

I noted your oblique reference to the Miles Messenger, and how Miles went around 'channels', to the point the project was almost cancelled. Thanks for the video, and that amazing footage. Excellent research.

Ah, Miles aircraft! Always a treat!

Thank you for sharing your excellent research and presentation. Subjects such as this one help me understand all the ideas that were being explored.

I just love the term "lithobraking"

Always impressed with the work you do, Rex. Thanks.

Merry Christmas, and thank you for bringing up the more unusual designs of WW2. I look forward to more! We'll done!

This pair of aircraft were never 'tandem wing' which explains why the CG location was misunderstood. These are relatively straightforward canard aircraft where valuable lessons were learned. Among which the rigging of the CG, the placement of a canard higher than the mainplane, and the use of flaps. The CG if improperly rigged forward as in an emulated tandem, makes the aircraft too responsive to the canard, and with the mainplane in the wake of the canard the flying qualities would be difficult to understand. Once the CG was moved aft, the aircraft behave more normally and more predictably. Even better as on M-39 when the canard was moved below the mainplane, the downwash would no longer interfere with the wing by creating a flow with a negative airstream angle, and all those negative effects would evaporate. Neither of these aircraft would be suitable for carrier operations however, as canards usually demonstrate very poor short field performance unless very light, which warplanes are not known to do.

Always loved the Miles designs. They, even if unconventional, are pleasing to the eye in proportion and shaping. Can't wait for the longer video on the entire company!🥤😮🍿

Miles came up with some beautiful ideas. I would like to have flown them.

we still see the occasional tandem wing designs today, thought they rarely go beyond testing. The tandem wing also shows up in designs for "quad tilt rotors" where the tandem wing allows for the rotors to be placed at the 4 corners of the aircraft such as in the Curtiss-Wright X-19

Thanks for this video, I find it really interesting to hear / see some of the designs of aircraft (and other vehicles etc) that didn’t come to fruition. In particular this was a clever way to try to make the planes fit in the carrier, while attempting to minimize the compromises of doing so. Looking forward to seeing the deeper dive episode!

Some of these "lost" tech are making a come back. Modern combat drones are utilizing tandem wings and even VTOL interceptor concepts like with the XFY-1 Pogo and Triebflugel.

This channel is in my opinon is a very interesting, fact filled, historic, and very accurate description of the evolution of aircraft. This paticular video is perfect for those interested in building their very own flying model of an canard type of airframe. Awesome information Rex ! Looking forward to your next video

I love that word lithobraking makes; me chuckle every time. lol

Although ultimately cancelled, I am impressed by the 6,000 pound bomb load of the Miles M.39.

AMAZINGNES!!! Love unconventional and new thinking crafts. Cant wait for more!

Thanks, I would have never known of these special aircraft, except seeing your video. I will definitely watch the follow up video you mentioned.

Thank you and, Merry Christmas.

I wonder how they solved stability problems (which were main fault of XP-55 and all similar planes). Normal airplane's center of mass is situated within tight limits of wing lift force and then far behind tail pushes down to balance weight and lift. When nose goes down, tail gets even more downforce, if nose goes up, tail can get some lift - in both cases returning plane back to straight flight automatically. But tandem wings are exactly what they are called - wings, they both have to produce lift. XP-55 front stabilizer in fact also should be considered wing. And plane can't balance itself this way, any change in pitch suddenly results in more force pushing in the same way. Pilot can keep plane straight with constant corrections, but that is extremely exhausting and will make it impossible to fly without good visual points of reference. Modern planes use that scheme for various benefits, but they have electronic systems that keep correcting flight without pilot even noticing. But in 40s those systems would be impossible to make.

Excellent as always. The period footage was enjoyable, specially seeing the test pilot land and jump out of the plane wearing a suit and tie. No hi-tech flight suits and fancy helmets back then, just another day at the office.

only ever seen old black an white pics of these grand dad had ,good to see some footage of em thanks

Yes! I've seen these a few times before, always wanted to know more! Thanks!!!!!

This presentation and animation really brings the limited documentation available to life! Really well done.

8:10 note the additional central fin added for lateral stability. The M35 did not have it.

Beautiful planes. Excellent video!

Great video, thanks Rex!

Love the 3D work! Especially the simulated flight mid video.

Woww! Animation! This channel is getting better and better!

Fascinating!

Excellent again, Thanks Rex ...

I like the animation. If there is a deficiency of real images, I think it adds to the video.

Oh Miles.. would you like the wings in the front or back? YES.

This is a really cool video. I never knew of these aircraft. Thank you for making this vid.👍👏😃

Merry Christmas Rex! Have a good one.

Those kind of projects are visually awesome! Thank you. I tried to make a pun with miles, but il failed in the most abject way.

Wow, I saw that Lysander inspiration instantly! Such a strange shape!

Nice work! 😎👏🏻

I want to know more about that heavily-modified Lysander(?) mentioned near the start!

An early Christmas present! Thanks!

Nice work m8!

Pretty birb. ^^ I'd love to see a twin-turboprop version of the second prototype, it could make a good compact and cost-efficient CAS fighter/trainer.

Always loved the Miles planes - cant wait for the upcoming videos ! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

Thanks for the great content

Excellent.

The heavily modified Westland Lysander with duel wings and rear turret was only a one off prototype no more were built

Would love to see an episode on the xp 67 moonbat…

Great models

Muito bom! Gratidão pelo vídeo! 🌟 👍

These feel like advanced Wright Flyers.

I cant wait for the deep dive ^^

With my limited knowledge of wing airflow, I have to wonder if it would have done better had the forward wing been on the bottom and the rear wing on the top. That front wing would have been dumping its downward airflow directly onto the rear wing's upper airflow. ...Oh, looks like that happened with the bomber prototype. And indeed it sounds like it did a LOT better.

When your test pilot says no, listen.

Oh I am excited for the deep dive.

I would actually love to be able to see the designs and blue prints for the b variant. It looks like such a nice plane and if I could build an RC one possibly as a 3-D print model It would be fun to see you what modifications to the design could be practical for today. Like, maybe you tilting the motors, or at least the props as they seem to sit around where are you would want the center of gravity, and thus center of lift for VTOL

This design would've been perfect for CAS. It's not a coincidence how much it resembles the A-10 Warthog.

M39 has a very cool look, could be used in ultralight...

Excellent episode. I have never heard of either plane.

M.39 is very cool looking.

Nice video, and great to see some Miles stuff. It has always been a disappointment to me that, another one, the Miles Student never made it into production.

Never heard of these planes but the concept of an aircraft with two alternating blades is covered in James Herbert’s “Dune”, a sci-fi treatment of an alien but human oriented future where these are called thopters. Much closer to the original idea of the dragon fly concept.

Again great vid also these designs like the M39 and the Keys dev look like they were lifted up from Crimson Skies especially how the M39 reminds me of the peacemaker and the Lysander reminds me of the Briganed

Hi. Thanks for this video, great old footage. I've made many flying model aircraft, canards and tandems, hoping that having two wings supplying lift rather than one would make for a more efficient plane. None were complete failures, but only one produced the desired results. It thermalled beautifully, rising up like a bird on the wing, and I never saw it again. So much balsa, so few results. Back to the drawing board---. Cheers, P.R.

they look very cool

Just the thing for taking on dirigible flying sky pirates!

These would be great model subjects.

WO! Count me in on the not knowin thing! And the Lyssie too! Be nice if one of the Miles had wound up at 'Shuttleworths' Thanks m8 another goodie!